Tour De Y Century Recap 7.10.2010

On Saturday morning just around 8 AM we rolled away from Weddington High School in what I hoped would be another opportunity to check an item off my bucket list.

Yes, I had signed up for a 100 mile bike ride. Actually, the course queue stated that the course was 101 miles rather than 100 miles. I guess nothing comes out just right, but that is okay. An anyway what is an extra mile after you have already ridden 100 miles.

Since last year when I did a metric century, I had been looking for a 100 miler taking place over this summer which was not too far from home. When I spotted the Tour De Y several weeks ago, I jumped at the chance.

I left home around 6:45 for the drive down to Weddington and arrived at the school about 7:30. A large number of cyclists were already getting ready. The check-in area was little busy but the line went pretty fast. They didn't give out numbers or any type of T-shirt so other than saying that you checked-in, there was nothing else to do.

After a quick nature break at the usual area, I headed back to car to finish my final preparations. Certain items needed to be checked before every ride: Tire pressures, water bottles, gels, phone, patch kits, etc.

Looking over the course handout, there was one concern that I did have. This was with the time limit. They had set the time limit at 7 hours and anyone not finished by 7 hours had to abandon the course. Actually, I guess this was a big concern for me since my goal was to ride between 6 and 7 hours.

We rolled out in groups with the century riders heading out first. I thought this was relatively a large group with probably 75 to 100 riders. I nestled myself right in the middle of group. The longer that I could stay in the middle of this group the better my chances were of finishing with in the time limits. And, I suspected at some point; it would splinter into smaller groups. How small of a group and where I didn't know.

We hit the first mile and my Garmin flashed that we were averaging 17 mph. By mile 3 we were averaging 18.5. The pace just continued to get faster. By 20 miles we were averaging 22 mph.

My concern was starting to shift from finishing in 6 to 7 hours to just finishing. I know what it is like to go out too fast running and bonk. Those last miles can seem like an eternity. So bonking with 40 or 50 miles left could get really ugly.

At the 32 miles we came to the first support area where they had food and water and this is where the group splintered. Many riders decided to stop while others pushed on. Many of the faster guys were pushing on.

I had planned on 2 stops around 50 and 70 miles. Unfortunately, when the group splintered, I found myself in no-mans land. I tried to bridge up to the group in front of me, but I could never make it across. Bridging only works if you are riding faster than the guys in front of you. In this case I was not.

So I tried to settle in to a comfortable cadence and click off some miles.

There must be a lot rides in southern Charlotte because there were multiple marks on the road. There were enough extra marks that some riders on the full century took some wrong turns.

From my perspective, the course was well marked and I didn't have any issues or even need to use the queue sheet.

At 42.5 miles, I saw the marks on the road for the metric and full century to split. I was seriously tempted to do just the 62 mile ride.

But that wasn't what I signed up for and cracked ribs or not my goal was 100 miles.

Around 48 miles, another rider came up behind me and we rode together until the next rest area. We both stopped to refuel on water, Gatorade, and banana. It just so happens that we were starting to roll out together so I asked if he was interested in working together for the next 50 miles.

For the next 20 miles we would take turns exchanging pulls every 2 or 3 miles. Then, just before the next support stop, I finally introduced myself. I learned that his name was Wade and we were roughly the same age.

As the miles churned passed we caught a few other riders. A couple of guys on tri bikes rode with us for a while, but with all of the climbing they dropped away after about 5 miles.

Next, we passed a guy on a recumbent bike. Recumbent bikes are an Interesting bikes, but I am not sure that I want to give up my road bike.

At about 85 miles we were pulling this hill up Waxhaw when my legs suddenly went over the line. They were totally spent. Setting or standing, I wasn't making much progress. Pulling over to let Wade pass through, I told him my legs were spent.

He laughed. He said his legs were spent as well.

After a little detour through the town of Waxhaw we passed by the last support area without stopping. I finally shifted out of the big chain after some 90 miles of riding. My legs loved it.

I probably should have done it a long time ago.

Over the last 10 miles we caught several other riders finishing either the metric or ½ metric century.

Finally, we were cruising down the hill back into the parking lot at Weddington High School. For the first time since I started riding my bike; I was ready to climb off it.

Based off the activity history from my Garmin, we rode 101 miles in 5 hours 7 minutes and 1 second and averaged roughly 19.7 mph.

During the ride, I drank 3 x 24 oz bottles of water and 2 x 24 oz bottles of Gatorade, consumed, 1 Power Gel, 2 Clif Bars, 1 Banana, and an Oreo cookie.

At 50 miles we were still averaging around 21 mph, but there were numerous climbs over the 2^nd half of the course. With only 2 of us doing the work, we could not maintain that kind of pace. And, I wasn't really expecting to.

Before we started the ride, I asked some of the other riders about the course and they thought was relatively flat. All I can say is after about 50 miles there was a lot more climbing one might expect. On 521 it may have been some of the worst because we just kept going up and up and up.

Finishing bike rides is a little different than running. All of the excitement is at the start. By the time you finish much of the crowd has already left. There isn't much left in the start finish area.

On side note, actually, a T-Shirt would have been kind of nice. A T-Shirt gives us something to remember the event by.

Getting back to my car, I was hot and tired but extremely happy. I finished well within the time limit and rode much faster than I ever expected. My cracked ribs hurt a lot on the bumpy South Carolina roads but the two Advil before the ride and the heat of the day really helped. Also let me throw a shout out to Wade. Thanks for help along the way. Certainly, having someone to share the work made all the difference for both of us.

My body is still in recovery mode so it is really too soon to tell if I will ever try another Full century ride again. For now, I have accomplished my primary goal and that was to ride 100 miles in day.

 

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner